Issue 6 - Dartmouth Alumni

Letter from the Editors
A Dartmouth Class of 2011 Publication
Hello ‘11s,
Year One - Issue Two
April 2013
We trust 2013 is going swimmingly for all of you
thus far, whether you’re on the East Coast (“Where
is spring?”), West Coast (“What is winter?”), or
anywhere in between. Last November, we all got the
news that a math professor from UMich was going
to be the 18th president of our beloved alma mater.
A common reaction was to rush forward with ideas
about what Prez Hanlon should tackle first, but we
hope we weren’t the only ones who stumbled out of
Photo courtesy of Derrick Smith ‘07
the gate, distracted by his strangely endearing
mustache. Anyway... you can read up on what your classmates thought were campus priorities on the
next page.
We’ve also read up on your new year’s resolutions and fun ways to spend a weekend, as well as your
bizarre experiences interviewing prospies. And while we all continue to have trouble stomaching the notion of a ‘Class of 2017’ (does not compute... does not compute), we can assure ourselves that now,
nearly two years out, we are assuredly more confident and well-adjusted alumni than we ever have been
before. Right? RIGHT???
We hope we will see some of you at Green Key this May, where we can reminisce about the good ol’
days when Collis Cafe was a stuffy little room, and there wasn’t a gigantic spider behind the Hop, and the
Thai restaurant in town didn’t have the word ‘Orchid’ in it and... oh, we could go on. But in the meantime, we truly hope you enjoy reading up on the experiences of your classmates, and if it makes you feel
open to sharing too, please let us know. We’re all ears!
As always, we are looking forward to hearing from you!
Catie Burkhard, Emily Broas, and Neil Basu
Class of 2011 Newsletter Editors
[email protected]
2
President Hanlon’s Checklist
Life After Co11ege
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
CLASS OF 2011
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Shayla Mars
President
Martha Gillon
Vice-President
Drew Joseph
Secretary
Katie Gandy
Treasurer
Susan Matthews
Alumni Councillor
Karen Doster
Dan Hochman
Head Agents
Ian Webster
Webmaster
Neil Basu
Emily Broas
Catie Burkhard
Newsletter Editors
Michael Lewis
Alex Maceda
Mini-Reunion Chairs
Maria Fillas
Kimberly Waters
Project Chairs
Joseph Coleman
Yosha Gargeya
Bequest Chairs
Brandon Aiono
Cyrus Akrami
Christopher Fletcher
SEC Members
What issues do ‘11s think the new Dartmouth president should tackle after he takes office this July?
ACADEMICS
DIVERSITY
• Keep Dartmouth a small college focused on
the liberal arts. Don’t forget about the
humanities. Actively poach high-profile
faculty from other schools. Maintain commitment to financial aid.
• Reassess tenure guidelines so that amazing
and inspiring professors who prioritize
students are not denied tenure at our top
undergrad institution purely based on the
number of their publications.
• Encourage ethical training in the economics
department.
• Research global health initiatives.
• Raising the college’s entreprenurial spirit.
• Strive harder to recruit and, more
importantly, retain minority faculty members.
• [Hanlon] seems like a true nerd, in the best
sense of the word, who can do great things to
refocus the administration.
• Equality for women.
• Address, take to heart, and act upon the
disturbing culture of apathy in the face of
issues raised by students of color.
• Fix the animosity between the sexes.
• Better integration of minorities into general
student population.
• Own up to sexual assault. I sometimes think
the way it is treated on campus is overdramatic, but I do agree it is generally swept
under the rug. We need to come to an
honest dialogue that neither ignores nor
dramaticizes it.
• Re-focus on community; Dartmouth doesn’t
seem as much like a family as it did before.
• I think there needs to be greater opportunity
for input from students on decisions made by
the school.
• Environmental initiatives, healthy community
building, collaborative learning.
• Service and spirituality.
• Promote sustainability including energy,
green buildings, food sources, and the expansion of gardening spaces on campus.
• Return Food Court to its a-la-carte glory days
instead of the “all-you-can-eat” nonsense that
Jim Kim started.
CAMPUS LIFE
GOVERNANCE
• Get rid of administrative/budget excess.
• Continue to focus on undergraduate education and accessibility between undergraduates
and professors. Experience at other Ivies has
only demonstrated that other schools value
their professors for their research and not
their teaching ability. Keep us as Dartmouth
College, not Dartmouth University.
• Not bouncing after 3 years, that’d be great.
HOUSING AND DINING
SOCIAL AND GREEK LIFE
• Preserve the viability of Greek life on
campus. Do not allow fraternities to serve as
a scapegoat for perceived campus issues.
• Lift the ban on local sororities.
• Improve frat culture to decrease incidence of
date rape and extreme hazing events.
What words come to your mind when you think of new President-Elect Philip Hanlon? Here’s some of the
more common words that Dartmouth ‘11s used to describe the new president.
Club Dartmouth
by Steve Avila ‘11
I graduated not knowing what I
was doing with my life. When I got home
after working for the summer at a language
camp teaching Spanish and French, I
pulled out a map and said, “I’m moving to
Miami.” Within weeks there I was working
downtown. The Dartmouth Club of South
Florida was just coming back to life after
years of dormancy. As an eager alum
(read: one with lots of time), I accepted the
invitation to join the new Board as Events
Chair.
Over the year or so, the Club has
helped me with my withdrawal from the
College, now nineteen months out. We
have a pong table we made ourselves and
regular tournaments and our own rules.
We have monthly lunches and events
scheduled, from Marlins games to Professor lectures. In a city where I virtually knew
no one in the beginning, my involvement
with the club, and the guidance from more
senior alumni, has helped with my transition to the “real world.” The best advice
I’ve heard came from a ’66 who straightout said, “Networking is how you get jobs;
that is how you will get your next job, not
sending your resume.” Oh, and I still don’t
know what I’m doing with my life. Though
I’m roaming ‘round the girdled Earth, Her
spell on me still remains.
New Year’s Resolutions
Life After Co11ege
3
...somewhat belated, and perhaps forgotten...
but here are the top resolutions submitted by your classmates!
HEALTH
RELATIONSHIPS
CAREER &
FINANCIAL
LEARNING &
HOBBIES
GENERAL
Yoga once a week(ish)!
Run a 10k.
Eat less meat.
Work out beyond having sex.
Keep running regularly!
Better posture.
Drink less alcohol.
Drink more water.
“Give love a chance.”
Only hang out with people I actually like.
Be better at responding to e-mails.
Stop online dating.
Get a job before July.
Save money.
MCAT score of 40.
Finish grad school apps.
Don’t be a workaholic.
Be smarter about work.
Spend less money in restaurants.
Finish a course with Coursera.
Write a blog post every day.
Learn guitar.
Read more poetry.
Read more books.
Graduate.
Read Anna Karenina.
Pick up a new skill set.
Stay alive.
Be honest always.
Accept adulthood.
Make myself happy.
Become an on-time person.
Never use a hashtag.
Try to take over the world.
Learn 50 new recipes.
Have a better year than 2012.
Dartmouth Community and
Dartmouth’s World
Rauner Special Collections Library has
recently launched a new oral history project.
The project's aim is to document the changing
nature of the Dartmouth community in the
second half of the twentieth century with an
emphasis on the concept of the insider/outsider and how those roles and perceptions
change over time. Narrators will include
members of the Dartmouth community from
1945 to the present, representing a broad
spectrum of voices and experiences including
faculty, alumni, current students and staff.
Alex Maceda and Anjelo Austria ‘12 (left), along with Scott McKnight and Maura Doherty (right),
enjoying their time at recent Dartmouth ‘11 mini-reunions. Want one near you? Contact Alex or
Mike Lewis at [email protected].
The project's coordinator is recruiting
narrators and wants to hear from members of
the Dartmouth community - no matter where
you live - who may be interested in being interviewed for the project. For further
information and to sign up to be interviewed,
contact Mary Donin at 603.646.9268 or
[email protected].
4
Skiing Towards Success
Life After Co11ege
by Rosie Brennan ‘11
As I sit writing this from my childhood
room in my parent’s house, I begin to wonder
what actually has changed; I am still just a poor
college student hanging out at my parent’s house
to avoid paying rent for the few winter days I am
at “home.” But, that there, is what’s exciting to
me and what keeps me going. So what is it that I
am doing that leaves me more or less homeless?
I moved to Anchorage, Alaska after graduating
and joined the Alaska Pacific University Elite
cross country ski team. It was not easy. I didn’t
know many people, Alaska is really far away
from everywhere, and nothing up there is anything like Hanover. I can’t tell you the number of
afternoons I spent totally exhausted from training
wishing I was back in my 14 W. Wheelock
apartment up to no good with my best friends.
Courtesy of Rosie Brennan
The skiing tradition is rich at Dartmouth and this has brought me solace in my escapades to become an accomplished cross
country skier. No matter what team I race for
now, I am still a Dartmouth skier and as I travel
not only the country, but also the world, I continually meet up with fellow Dartmouth skiers and
alums making me feel a little at home everywhere.
My day goes something like this: eat a
sizeable breakfast; train with my team for a couple hours; eat lunch; rest, recover, work a side
job; train a couple more hours; eat dinner; crash
for the night. While to most this sounds a little
mundane, this is what makes me tick. I find incredible enjoyment in being outside working
hard with teammates.
Come November, I pack up, move
out of my summer residence, and hit the road. I
race most weekends of the winter and every
weekend is in a new location; think traveling circus complete with tents, spandex, and funny
things strapped to our feet and hands. This is
where the magic happens, where I can move up
the ranks, win some (albeit little) prize money,
and do my best to solicit sponsors to make this
all doable. It took me a year to get my feet under
me and understand this whole circus life, but
things have come together for me this year and I
have had some great races, making everything
worth it. I will be departing for the World Cup
(joining fellow ’11 Ida Sargent) and racing 10
times in 4 different countries in the span of 1
month in front of up to 100,000 screaming fans
(yes, cross country skiing is cool!)
It’s a total rollercoaster of a life having
to deal with good races, bad races, injuries, celebrations, traveling, different countries, different
food, different people, but in the end, I can’t
think of any other way I would rather spend
these precious post-college years than working
hard, being fit, traveling all over, and getting to
spend lots of time with great friends (many from
Dartmouth).
Editors’ Note - Rosie recently captured her
first national cross-country ski title in
Soldier Hollow, Utah! You can read more
about Rosie’s adventures at:
rosiebrennan.blogspot.com.
A ‘Free Time’ Production
A slight haze hangs over the Boston
skyline before the city has awoken, a haze that
also shrouds my still-drowsy vision at about 5am.
A man tosses a stack of newspapers outside a
coffee shop door as I walk down Cambridge
Street in Boston, lugging a camera, microphone,
and tote bag filled with a change of clothes for
the workday. An unnecessary look across the
street (there are, of course, no cars) and I’m at
the Charles River, a dark black mass of glittering,
serene water covered with skeletal silhouettes of
skyscrapers and rowers carrying boats to the
dock.
Last summer, I decided to start working on a short film about rowing in my spare
time. I visited the Charles River and Union Boat
Club (where fellow ’11 Quincy Darbyshire is a
member and helped me gain access) in search of
by Dylan Leavitt ‘11
Courtesy of Dylan Leavitt
a story about rowing and what it means to be a
rower after college. Why do they STILL get up
so early for these practices when they often work
long hours and are certainly exhausted?
I attended early morning practices this
summer and also worked with a couple of other
Boston area cinematographers to film Head of
the Charles in the fall. It’s thrilling to be putting
together my first film endeavor after Dartmouth;
I’m working on my own terms with my own
deadlines and goals. It’s also a new challenge,
since I have my regular job at ANTIQUES
ROADSHOW as Digital Production Coordinator, but also looking to balance my free time
with this satisfying film side project.
I’m working on post-production now,
organizing the heaps of footage I’ve shot and
planning my next steps for showing the film. It’s
therapeutic for me to come home some nights
and watch rushes, cut sequences, and search for
new inspiration. I’ve realized that I can answer
my own question about why rowers continue to
row despite the demands of post-college life; I
also find challenges and meditation when making movies in my free time. It takes discipline,
but being creative makes my time outside of the
office more fulfilling.
Stuck in the Bubble... and Sorry It Isn’t Cute Beb
Life After Co11ege
Some wise person once said the hardest thing to do is let go, I could figure out who
said that, but in all honesty, “ain’t nobody got
time for that.” Yet, truer words have never been
said, tweeted, tumbled, or instagrammed. The
day after graduation might have been one of the
most traumatic and frightening days of my life,
almost on par with the day I found out that figure skating wasn’t a “cool” sport or that I did in
fact fail my gym requirement (grim). Graduation
was frightening because I realized, as well as
many of my friends and classmates that we had
to let go. Many of us had spent the last four years
skirting responsibility, sleeping till noon, excusing our poor behavior on being drunk, or to
avoid reality all together, blacking out on the regular. I can personally say I opted to spend my
four years participating in the later, and will
probably regret that choice for the next 20, but
c’est la vie, at least it wasn’t documented on a
low-budget TLC reality show…sorry Honey
Boo Boo.
Following graduation, I decided I wasn’t ready to give this up, and it was no fault of my
own. Dartmouth made me this way…or at least
that is what I keep telling myself. Dartmouth
taught me it was not okay to settle, and that I
should never be bored, and waiting in line wasn’t
a thing. So in the name of shortcuts, these are
the rude realizations that I’m only slowly learning to deal with as I fail to launch from the keystone laden, responsibility-free, undergraduate
experience.
1. Your First Job is Actually Going to
Suck…and you will just have to deal
I always knew that my first job wasn’t
going to be glamorous; I watched enough lowbudget comedies and the Devil Wears Prada to
understand this. However, I assumed that while
my first job may suck, I’d be able to make it
work for me. FALSE, SO FALSE! Realization:
there is no making a job work for you. Sad truth,
unlike a class, you can’t drop it, or take it another term, or wait until your bestie takes the
class with you to make it more bearable. Literally, you just have to suck it up, and in my case,
sometimes you realize that a few months too
late. Yes, I did say months. Your first job most
likely won’t provide any flexibility and your boss
will not care that there is a super awesome
happy-hour happening, and they won’t buy your
excuse that you need to go home because a repair man is coming to check our your non-functioning stove. In the grand scheme of corporate
life, this means nothing to them; it is like trying to
talk with the registrar, only every single day.
My first job was a complete bust, and
by Matt Scott ‘11
the fact that my first job only lasted 8 months
isn’t rare or abnormal. The majority of 20-somethings will be shifting and switching, for a fair
share of us the first year will feel like a game of
Twister. Mainly, because for a lot of us, accepting that we have to work a crappy job that has
nothing to do with what interests us, or where we
sort of see ourselves in ten years is just not a
thing, and we decide to switch gears, because
honestly why kick a dead horse, when you can
move on and find a new, prettier horse that is
still breathing, at least for the time being. Yes, I
may be full of shit, but let’s get real for a second,
between our parents and college telling us that
we are super special and bright, and in my case
my parents minting my own first place medal
after I placed in a dismal 6th during my first figure skating meet, sitting for 12 hours a day editing an excel document or sorting papers just isn’t
how we imagined post-grad life.
2. People will judge you for blacking
out or being too drunk
Yes, there were those few people in
college that judged others for being too drunk,
but the majority wouldn’t think twice if they saw
someone pulling their own trigger and then returning to their double stem game of tree. This
may be the one fact about the real world that
was the hardest to deal with, and I will be honest,
I am still trying to figure out what is acceptable
and what isn’t. I mean...if you say open bar, I am
going to treat it like an open bar. I may fall down
and call you a heifer, but you were the one that
extended that open bar invitation. I learned to
be an opportunist drinker in college. The idea
of the drunkest girl at the party isn’t something
very many people in the “real world” are aware
of, or okay with, and if by chance you end up
that girl at a work event, consider yourself 1) on
your boss’ radar and 2) the recipient of negative
facetime, or 3) a very stern warning the next day
from your office bffl. Also just another side note,
people don’t laugh in the real world when you
say something totally worthy of the overheards.
They will generally assume you are spoiled,
vapid, or racist, or a combo of the three, not a
great look.
Also drunken sex in the real world is
scary.
3. Hanging out…officially not a thing
Yes, there will be a select few who will
refuse to change and will be sending out drunk
texts at 7:30 pm on a Tuesday about going and
getting McDonald Happy Meals, (definition of
not moving on). But after graduation, that friend
5
becomes an anomaly, and usually the subject of
unspoken shade. Most of your friends will complain about being tired, or having too much
work, and would rather talk about their new
client or business trip, than chat about the most
recent episode of Made in Chelsea or the latest
Lindsay Lohan mishap. For myself this was a
complete shock. I figured awesome, I’ll find a
job, move to a city where all my betches be at,
and it will be like senior spring everyday. Drinks
after work, movie nights, black out Thursdays,
and boozy brunches on Sunday to rehash the
previous night’s poor decisions. Real talk: this
never happens. Literally, at one point I went an
entire three weeks without a single text from the
majority of my homiez, and while this was a
complete shock for me, it is completely normal
for everyone else. And I for one am not okay
with this. I had become accustomed to constant
social interaction and binge drinking, and one
does not just get cut off from this; it is more addictive than crack…say crack again…crack. (sorry
obligatory Mean Girls reference).
For someone who can’t let go, you
schedule regular Google+ hangouts with your
other boozy friends, who also refuse to let go.
Number one rule about the real world, as long
as you are skyping, texting, or in my case thinking about a friend, it is okay to be drinking. Although in reality, I’m one Say Yes to the Dress
marathon away from being a confirmed wino cat
hoarder…whose personal memoir will be titled,
“Kale in my teeth, cats are asleep, alone in my
bed,” to be read my one unfortunate shopper
whose order for the latest tween novel sensation
was mixed up by Amazon.
I have work tomorrow, so there it is,
the top three hard truths, which I personally refuse to accept or have had a hard time adjusting
to. In my own opinion I think that if you’re unhappy and you have an out, take it. You don’t
owe your first job anything. Like I said: would
you rather have a dead or a pretty pony? Also, if
your friends do decide to hangout, make your
more successful friend pick up the tab. But seriously, you don’t have a job and cable is way
more important than three double vodka sodas.
And finally, who cares if you have a problem
launching, or giving up the maladjusted habits
you adopted while in college. Those four years
were great, and honestly, if it weren’t for those
immature, kind of drunk, adult children, the entire spirits industry would crumble. Okay, not really, but then again, all the so-called normal,
well-adjusted biddies, would have no one to talk
about. So carry on, you aren’t even 30 yet, and
keep being fabulous, because while it may not
be cute to still be stuck in the bubble, it definitely
isn’t boring.
What’s the Best Low-Budget Trip You’ve Taken Since Graduation?
6
Life After Co11ege
Since long weekends seem to be “the thing” in the real world.
"Seattle, WA, for Courtney
Hammond's wedding! Cheap
flight, sharing a cheap cabin,
wonderful company and
views, nothing better."
"The Lost Coast
(NorCal Pacific
coast)"
"MLK Weekend with four
other Thetas in a cabin on a
lake in Michigan! We played
board games and cards,
cooked together, hiked, and
had fires in the fireplace."
"Trips back to Dartmouth...crashing on an
"AirBnB weekend
11’s couch and hanging out with other
trip
to Woodstick,
alumns renting the cabin on Gilman this
NY
in the fall!
past summer and canoing out there at midJUST
TAKE ME
night with a bunch of crazy fellow 11s."
BACK THERE!"
"Camping at Devils
Lake, WI with fellow
Dartmouth classmates."
"Hiking the great circle in the Pemi
wilderness in the
White Mountains."
“Visiting
friends in DC
(while I was
home for
Christmas).”
"I visited my friend in
Ellensburg, WA for the
rodeo in September."
"Hiking/swimming
near Lake Tahoe"
"Napa, Mount
Tamalpais,
Monterey Bay,
Carmel."
"Driving up to Chico to attend
a Thanksgiving dinner on my
friend's walnut preserve. Participating in dinner-making,
buttermilk biscuit-baking, hiking, running away from a
mountain lion, and rollerskating. Actually in that order."
"Bicycling the Blue Ridge
Parkway near Luray, VA. Riding is free, food is delicious."
“Bourbon Street debauchery.”
INTERNATIONAL LOW-COST ADVENTURES
“Boston, to see
wonderful ‘11s!”
"Surprise overnight
roadtrip to the LSUFlorida football game."
"MONTREAL! 3 days for under $250!"
“Snorkeling in Dahab, Egypt (located on the Sinai Peninsula by the Red Sea; the
snorkeling/diving is FANTASTIC. The snorkeling gear cost less than 4 USD
per day, the hotel room around 17 USD/night, and the bus trip to and from
Cairo took about 10 hours but was only 15 USD)."
“Driving out to
Montauk for the
weekend and camping on the beach.
Fresh seafood,
amazing weather,
and relaxation.”
"Virginia Beach sand
soccer tournament
weekend."
"I visited a fellow '11 in Woods Hole
last summer. I didn't have to book a
hotel since I could stay with her, and
we cooked most of our own meals.
We biked everywhere so we didn't
have to pay for gas. We took a tour
of Martha's Vineyard and sunbathed
topless. It was awesome haha"
"One weekend I went to Suzhou, a little town a bit north of Shanghai, and they had an amazing hot springs resort. My
friends and I found a deal on the Chinese version of Groupon and were able to stay in a five star hotel, have full access to
the hot springs, and explore the nearby town with a guided tour, all totaling under $100!"
City Checklist: Must-See Things to See or Do
Life After Co11ege
7
Your classmates provide recommendations for you when visiting their neck of the woods...
NEW YORK
BOSTON
WASHINGTON D.C.
• Top of the Rock at sunrise or sunset
• The New York City Transit
Museum, a former subway station
with awesome trains and exhibits
• Get lost walking around West Village.
• Big Nicks = best burger in the city
• Dia: Beacon, an amazing art museum
• Mission Chinese Food (Lower East
Side), a must-go delicious and
tongue-numbing (read: spicy),
simultaneously affordable,
simultaneously trendy establishment
• Magnolia Bakery; cupcakes are best
• Walk along the Charles River
• Have brunch at the Buttery in South
End.
• Go to a Dartmouth alum house
party; there are so many alums here,
there is always a party.
• Ice skating on the frog pond
• Order the chicken wings at Bon Chon
• Visit the Boston Public Library,
founded by Dartmouth alum George
Ticknor
• Order a lobster tail at Mike’s Pastry
and just try to eat it all
• Go to the Spy Museum
• Walk around the National Mall at
night
• Go out on U Street until 4:30am
• See the First Ladies Dresses at the
Smithsonian Museum
• Get a salad at Chop’t or Sweetgreen
• Go to Eastern Market, a cool market
down on Capitol Hill on the
weekends
• Walk around Georgetown
• Amsterdam Falafelshop, delicious
if you’re into the whole veggie thing
LOS ANGELES
SAN FRANCISCO
PHILADELPHIA
• Go to the Mission and get tacos from
Vallarta Taqueria; argue with other
Mission-dwellers why your taqueria is
superior
• Ride the Hyde-Powell cable car from
Fisherman’s Wharf to the Fashion
District at night (try to plan when the
weather is less foggy)
• Take the ferry past Sausalito and go
hiking on Angel Island
• Go to the Computer History
Museum
• Eat at the Asian Box restaurant in
Mountain View
• Go to a Philly Union game
• Visit the National Constitution Center
• Walk through Rittenhouse Square
AMBERG, GERMANY
SHANGHAI, CHINA
CAIRO, EGYPT
• Drink a beer in the 6 town breweries
• Run up the monastery on the hill
• Walk around the ancient city walls
• Yang’s Dumplings (cheap, delicious)
• Lost Heaven (authentic Yunnan style)
• Jujube Tree (get the Peking duck)
• Hike in the Pacific Palisades
• Lunch at 800 Degrees Pizza
• Drive down the PCH
SEATTLE
• Take the Underground Tour
• Do a wine tasting in Woodinville
• Go to a Sounders game
ST. LOUIS
• City Museum (playground for adults)
• Eat the BBQ from Bogarts
• Go to Tower Grove Park
• Ride camel near Saqqara Pyramids
• Take Felucca ride on the Nile
• Go to a Sufi Dancing Show
8
Alumni Interviews: From the Other Side
Life After Co11ege
Do you remember your Dartmouth interview? I had a “good cop, bad
cop” husband and wife pair. The wife stared
at me over her clipboard, asked scripted
questions, and took notes, while the husband laughed a lot and leaned back in his
chair, wearing an old sweatshirt. However
small this memory seems now after four
years at Dartmouth and interviewing for jobs
in the “real word”, now it’s our turn to go
through it all over again from the other side.
“What exactly do you do?” you
might ask. Well, you get to talk to someone
about Dartmouth for an hour – not too
hard, since I’m pretty sure we could do it all
day. Your roll as an interviewer is to get past
the applicant’s transcript and to learn about
their character and experiences. There are
many different approaches to the interview,
by Jen Fownes ‘11
and I’m still figuring out my own style: you
can do it solo or in a team, and you can chat
or bring prompts to steer the conversation. I
asked the alumni coordinator from my area,
Trina Santry ’80, for her favorite questions
to share with you: she asks the applicants for
something they are really proud of, and later
in the interview, for their biggest disappointment.
Because so many Dartmouth applicants look good on paper, it’s interesting
to try to get to know the person behind the
list of leadership positions and test scores.
One student spent most of the interview asking me questions and so I spent most of the
time talking about my own Dartmouth experience. Oops. I still learned a lot about her
interests and goals, and the fact that she was
the most organized person I have ever met.
On the other extreme, another student gave
short answers and barely looked at me. I
wanted to give him a fair chance, but when
he described making word cloud to describe
himself, the only words he could remember
were “lazy” and “sleepy.” This came after he
refused to specify any interests or goals for
college and I asked for his reason for applying to Dartmouth: “my mom said I should. I
haven’t really looked at anything about it, so
I don’t know what I would like there.”
Sorry, kid, but I like my Dartmouth students
full of pride.
Interested in interviewing and want
to know more? The Dartmouth Interviewer
Tools and Resources website has a lot of
useful information, including guidelines and
FAQs. To sign up to interview, contact your
local alumni club.
An Alumni Interviewer’s Stream of Consciousness
Go me, I’m such a dedicated alum.
Going to impart all of my wisdom on potential Dartmouth students. This is going to be so
fun and interesting. This will totes fill my
‘community service quota’ for at least 3
months. This is the perfect gig. Wait, how do
I log in to this site? Omg, why can’t I remember my NetID…I never thought I would forget that. Wow, why is this password so
complicated.
Upon being assigned FIVE more interviewees: Does this mean I did a good job
with the first one? Why is this password so
hard to remember? But really, this is the 10th
time I’ve reset it…
Interview 1: Wait, what? I can’t hear
you. Speak louder. Please speak louder. I
by Catie Burkhard ‘11
can’t ask a follow-up question when I can’t
hear the answer. How many times can I say
‘what’ before it becomes unacceptable? Can
you tell I can’t hear you? Am I bad at this?
Interview 2: You’re normal, I like
you! Yayyyyyy. Let’s be best friends. Can’t
wait to tell you to touch the fire.
Interview 3: You really want to meet
at McDonald’s instead of the Starbucks I suggested? Seriously? Can I get a happy meal?
I’m really hungover and would like a happy
meal. Okay, I can restrain. How do I convince you Dartmouth is cool? Wow, it’s so
hard to focus at McDonald’s.
Interview 4: You want to meet at
Taco Bell??? I mean, I can’t even…is this
going to be like a bad first date? The book
you read most recently was what? An erotic
novel? No, you can’t be serious. You want to
BE Judge Mathis? Because he’s famous
AND rich? No, we must stop.
Upon filling out evaluations:
WHAT IS MY PASSWORD? Does it
mean I’m bad at interviewing if I can’t answer
these questions? It really must be me, not
them. I hope I’m not single-handedly ruining
their futures. Omg I am a horrible person.
What am I doing? Why did I sign up for
this?
Interview 5: You want to meet at
Panera? Well that’s an improvement! I
promise I’ll try to listen. Maybe you’ll be the
one.
(Based on true stories.)
U N F O R T U N A T E`` E N C O U N T E R S
(Anonymous) stories submitted by your fellow Dartmouth ‘11s while they were conducting alumni interviews!
“One interviewee told me she really
likes lecture classes because she
doesn’t have to think in class.”
“I asked one interviewee what has
been her proudest moment thus far.
She sat in silence for 30 seconds,
and then asked:
‘Can we come back to that?’”
“All this one interviewee asked
about was investment banking.
What do Dartmouth grads in ibanking make? How did they get
there? What extracurriculars did
they do to get there? How easy
was it to get into fraternities with
i-banking connections?”
“I asked this one girl what her favorite book was.
She said “I hate to read.” Why would you say that
in an interview, even if it was true?”
“One guy was telling me about his experiences
with break-dancing, and after trying to explain a
certain move called ‘the turtle’ to me, he got up
from our booth at the cafe and did it for me right
there on the floor. In public.”
Winter Carnival 2013: The Highlights!
Life After Co11ege
For these pictures and more, check out Dartmouth’s Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dartmouthflickr.
Courtesy of now.dartmouth.edu
9
10
Life After Co11ege
Mark your calendar now for
Greenways: Coming Home,
a Dartmouth celebration of
coeducation in Hanover
from April 5-7, 2013.
The College is planning an
exciting weekend filled with
meaningful conversations and lively gatherings for
alumnae, alumni, faculty, and students to recognize
the historic change that occurred in the fall of 1972.
For more information, visit
www.dartmouth.org/greenways.
Want to share your
experience?
We want to hear from as many of
you as possible! E-mail us at:
[email protected]
and we will make sure you get
your moment in the spotlight!
Where do I want my donation to the Dartmouth College Fund to go? Here’s what fellow ‘11s thought their money should be used to fund.
Keep donating to the Dartmouth College Fund! To donate this year, visit: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~alfund/.